Former Jersey City City Councilman E. Junior Maldonado, who voters booted out of office in 2005 when Mayor Steve Fulop made his first bid for council, will become a Hudson County freeholder next week.

Maldonado, 57, the deputy executive director of the Hudson County Improvement Authority, was voted in by Democratic committee members of the county’s 4th District, which he will represent on the nine-member freeholder panel.

He replaces former Freeholder Eliu Rivera, who resigned effective July 1. Maldonado will be sworn in next week. The job comes with a roughly $40,000 salary.

Maldonado acknowledges the irony of the man who unseated him almost 10 years ago helping him gain his new position.

“Over the years, we’ve learned to come to a mutual friendship and a mutual respect,” Maldonado said. “I have a dedication and commitment to the city of Jersey City, and I think he recognizes that in me and I certainly recognize it in him.”

A special election in November will decide whether Maldonado remains in the seat until Rivera’s term expires next December, while the regular election for the seat is November 2014.

Maldonado is the latest Fulop ally to secure a new job. David Donnelly, a former Ward B councilman, is now a project manager in Fulop’s office, making $80,000 a year. Jeremy Farrell, who worked on Fulop’s campaign, is now making $126,228 as the city’s top attorney.

Maldonado makes about $99,000 for the HCIA. He has resigned because he can’t work there and be a freeholder.

The district he’ll represent covers a Batarang-shaped section of Jersey City that includes Downtown, a western portion of The Heights and some of Journal Square.